E N D L E S S R O A D
Road Chatter XLVII
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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Car Trivia Questions
- Giovanni Cases
- Give Away
- Formula 1
- Bits and Pieces
- Car Trivia Answers, 15% Off Purchases For Your Trivia Questions
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Car Trivia (answers are later in this newsletter)
1) We all notice the big red flying horse logo at Mobil stations. Where did that come from?2) 'Think Small' was the buzz-word for Volkswagen, but they did not stay small. What European company did VW buy in 1969?
3) Who purchased the first HUMVEE built for civilian use?4) Ferrari is the only team that has continuously been in Formula 1 racing since its inception. But in 1996, they had not won a Drivers Championship since 1979. When two-time World Champion Michael Schumacher (you remember him) came to Ferrari, he promised he would bring them a championship. But who was the driver that gave Ferrari its championship before the long drought after 1979?
5) The original Chaparral 2 used stock tail-lights from a production car. What were they from, and why were they chosen?--- Retreads ---
These next three questions are from over two years ago. If you remember them from before, consider this a memory test.
6) MOPAR had a legendary set of pumped-up muscular engines. Which of these sets is correct?A Hemi 440/400hp & Six Pack 426/425hp
B Hemi 426/425hp & Six Pack 440/390hp
C Hemi 440/435 hp & Six Pack 426/390hp
D Hemi 426/435hp & Six Pack 440/390hp
7) What European car has a name that's Latin for 'I Roll'?8) Henry Ford made his fortune with the world famous Model T.
Who else made a Model T?
And the last two are from four years ago.
9) Where did Ferrari get their Prancing Stallion emblem?10) Audi's logo is four interlocking rings. What is the derivation of this logo?
***About the only way to know if anyone reads this stuff is if someone tells us when we are wrong. Well, at least four of you sharp-eyed guys do read it. And you don't let me get away with anything.
-Jack N., Bill W., and Glen L. reminded me of Jeff Andretti, the fifth member of the Andretti family, for our last issue's question #3.
-Glen also reminded me of Mike Wallace; he should have been in that list, too.
-We had a good friend/customer discuss question #2, the F.O.B. question. He said that it should have been 'Freight On Board', not 'Free on Board'. At first, I agreed with him and sent him a note saying so.
But since I had to correct myself to the rest of you, I looked in Wikipedia.org, and it says: Free On Board (FOB) is an Inco term -- also commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as 'Freight on Board'. It means that the seller pays for transportation of the goods to the port of shipment, plus loading costs.
To tell the truth, when I was in wholesale, I heard it referred to both ways.
To the four of you, I do appreciate you bringing these points to my attention. We will give each of you 15% off your next purchase for your trouble.
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- Giovanni Cases
The die cast collectors from our retail shop will remember the great Giovanni cases we carried. They have all the die cast sizes from 1:64 to
1:18 and more odd sizes than you can count. Of all the years we had the shop, we never found better cases for the money. We still supply them for a few of our customers. And we can do the same for you. Find the case you want on Giovanni's website,snipped-for-privacy@aol.com
Our Number: 1-304-274-5074
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- Gift Certificate Give Away
Our regulars know that every month, we give away a $30 Gift Certificate from Endless Road to one of our regular Road Chatter readers. We are happy to say the winner this month was Jack H. from Salisbury, MD.
We are changing things this month. We have been selling the great Cobra Ferrari Wars DVD since it came out in 2005. However, we have been contacted by the author of the book by the same name. We are told that there is a court battle between the book author and the DVD creators over the ownership of the name. And we are violating his copyrights selling the DVD. That leaves us with $400 worth of DVDs we cannot sell. But we can give them away.
So ... for every purchase our regular Road Chatter Newsletter recipients make, we will put their names in our drawing, and the person whose name is drawn will receive a $39.95 Cobra Ferrari Wars DVD from Endless Road. Remember, you must receive our newsletter by email to qualify for the drawing.
Good Luck.
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Formula 1
2007 ScheduleFox will be airing four of the F1 races this year. But this time, they are doing it right. Fox will be using the same crew we know: Bob, David, Steve and Peter. Remember, Fox owns Speed TV now. This could be a good thing; it will make F1 visible to millions of new viewers. Increased interest could be good for F1 in the states.
March 18 Australia
April 8 Malaysia
April 15 Bahrain
May 13 Spain
May 27 Monaco
June 10 Montreal Fox
June 17 Indianapolis Fox
July 1 France Fox
July 8 Britain Fox
July 22 Germany
August 5 Hungary
August 26 Turkey
Sept. 9 Italy
Sept. 16 Belgium
Sept. 30 Japan
Oct. 7 China
Oct. 21 Brazil
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- Bits and Pieces
DO NOT get rid of your VHS machines; there are many great racing videos that are available on VHS tape and not scheduled to be put on DVD.
***Cheap Seats
By Warren N. Miller
The old saying 'Nothing is Cheap' certainly applies to today's racing activities, whether it's actually racing or just attending a race. NASCAR tickets can go for hundreds of dollars per seat, and even a night at the local dirt track can set you back a few dollars, not counting food, parking, and souvenirs, plus the cost of gasoline just to get there.
In 1963, I was stationed at the US Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton, CA as a US Navy Hospital Corpsman. Two other corpsmen and I decided we would like to go to the 1963 Riverside 500. Since we did not have a car at the time, I enlisted the help of another corpsman who was willing to drive, and we decided, for whatever reason, that we would all go in uniform. Well, I was the last one to be picked up, and when they arrived, everyone was wearing civilian clothes. I immediately protested and said, 'Wait a minute, you all said we would go in uniform', but since it was already late, I didn't have time to change. So, off we went, and from what I remember, it took several hours to get there, and when we arrived, the parking lot official looked in the window of Howie's car and said '17'. Howard replied, '17 what?', and the guy said, '$5 for each of you and $2 for him because he's in uniform'. Wow, $2 to see the Riverside 500 - CHEAP - there must be a better word for it than that. The race was even better than what I expected!
-- Every Car-Guy has interesting stories about their cars. If you would like to tell us one of your car stories, then when we use it, you will have your pick of any item we have on our web. One of our contributors from a previous issue chose one of our great Monaco posters.
***Floating around on the web:
A motorist was unknowingly caught in an automated speed trap that measured his speed using radar and photographed his car. He later received in the mail a ticket for $40 and a photo of his car. Instead of payment, he sent the police department a photograph of $40. Several days later, he received a letter from the police that contained another picture, this time of handcuffs. He immediately mailed in his $40.
***At Amelia Island:
Charlie Kolb, a road racing driver of the 60's and 70's, told how the first race he ever saw was the Twelve Hours of Sebring in the 50's. He and a few friends were enjoying their favorite malt beverage, or perhaps whatever they could afford. Charlie was driving an MGA at the time. The only thing between his group and the race track was a snow fence. As the evening shade began to shroud the more remote areas of the track, and as they consumed more refreshments, Charlie decided that this racing thing was something that he could do. The snow fence was not much of a deterrent. Said Charlie, 'Well ... I entered the race.' The race was going on; they could not stop the race to take him off the track, so Charlie stayed out there to the end of the race. 'The surprising thing is, I passed a few.'
We have been telling you Amelia Island stories since we went there in March
2006. Well, now you can see the whole discussion and hear the stories for yourself. We have the Legends of Can Am DVD in stock. The Forum Participants were: Pete Biro, Peter Bryant, Dan Davis, George Drolsom, Vic Elford, George Follmer, Jim Hall, Hurley Haywood, Carl Kainhofer, Charlie Kemp, Oscar Koveleski, Pete Lyons, Bob Nagel, Jackie Oliver, Sam Posey, Brian Redman, and Bill Warner. Believe me, if you liked Can Am, you have to see this DVD.***
License Tag Novelists
Sometimes the tags are a bit romantic:
-White Accord Sedan: 0X0X4U2
-Silver Mitsubishi Wagon: SMILZ2U
-Very Green Ford ZX2 Coupe: D2 OF US
-VW Passat: OBAYBY
While some prefer to be more sinister:
-Black Lexus with very dark tinted windows: BLACOUT
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Car Trivia Answers
1) Mobil uses the winged horse, Pegasus, from Greek mythology. Pegasus was the son of Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and the Gorgon Medusa. Greek mythology doesn't mention Poseidon doing a back flip in the middle of the ocean.2) In 1969, Volkswagen bought Audi.
3) Who purchased the first HUMVEE built for civilian use? You guessed it: Arnold Schwarzenegger. We like to give easy ones once in a while.(Thanks to our friend, Tim, the webmaster for Maryland Automobile Modelers Association, MAMA.)
4) Ferrari won in 1979, but it was not an easy win. Carlos Reutemann left Ferrari to partner with Mario Andretti at Lotus. That left room for Jody Scheckter. This was the year that most of the teams were now sprouting aerodynamics that had been so instrumental in last year's Lotus. Alan Jones won with his Williams in four of the last six races. But Jody's consistency was enough to take the title with only three wins. You can see it all on the Formula 1 1979 DVD. We now have each year of the 70's Formula 1 season on DVDs.5) The Chaparral 2 used stock tail-lights from a production Corvair. Originally, the link between Jim Hall and GM was the hiring of Hall and the very secluded Rattlesnake Raceway (Midland, TX) to test Corvairs in preparation for the (then) upcoming plethora of lawsuits. Needless to say, after the roll-over tests, there were a lot of tail-lights lying around.
(Thanks to our friend, Jay D.)
--- Retreads ---
6) MOPAR muscle was packed in:B Hemi 426/425hp & Six Pack 440/390hp
7) What European car has a name that's Latin for 'I Roll'?'Volvo' is Latin for 'I Roll'.
(Our friend, Jeff, wants to know 'How come the Latins named all these cars, and they didn't have any of their own???')
8) Ford was not the only one with a Model T. From model year 1918 through model year 1922, Chevrolet designed its 1-Ton trucks as Model T's.(Source: Standard Catalog of Light-Duty American Trucks, 1993. Thanks again to our friend, Tim, the webmaster for Maryland Automobile Modelers Association, MAMA.)
9) There are at least two stories to Ferrari's Prancing Stallion's origination. One is that Enzo Ferrari had won a race in 1923, and, in honor of this, he was given a piece of fabric from the Spad S13 fighter plane of a member of the Baracca family of Modena. The fabric showed a black prancing horse, possibly part of the Baracca family crest. Enzo apparently liked the idea and adopted it as his own. Another story told by the late Battista Pininfarina is that Ferrari's brother served with, and died in, the same squadron as Baracca, and, because of this, the Countess Baracca suggested to Enzo that he should use the Prancing Stallion on his cars as a memorial.(Both versions of this came from 'Ferrari The Sports/Racing and Road Cars' by Godfrey Eaton, 1982.)
10) In the early 30's, four German auto companies joined forces to better survive the poor economic times. These were Horch, Wanderer, DKW and Audi. The interlocking rings symbolize the joining of these four.(Thanks to our friend, Jeff, for this one.)
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15% Off Purchases For Your Trivia QuestionsTo Tim, Jay., and Jeff, thanks for the trivia questions. Remember, you three will receive 15% discounts on your next orders.
We try to choose these trivia questions from several groups and still be interesting. This time we have a brawny Governor, F1 Champs, Crushed Corvairs, Muscular MOPARs, Latin Lessons, Model T Chevys, four Germans, a prancing horse, a flying horse and a few Greek Gods.
Anyone have any trivia questions of your own? Send us an interesting fact on just about anything on wheels: cars, trucks, F1, Drags, Muscle Cars, weird obsolete car thingies, whatever, and, when we use it, you get 15% off all purchases on everything on your next order.
***Thanks,
Dave Payne